


That One Where Lance is an Actual Mermaid

by Lynnieliu



Series: My klance fics [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aquarium, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aquarium AU, Gay Keith (Voltron), It never ends, Lance is a flirt, M/M, Magicks, Pansexual Character, Pansexual Lance (Voltron), and hunk, and shiro, at least pidge does, but also his adopted brother, everyone works at the aquarium but keith, he also cant swim, he so gay, i didnt see it as angst, i guess, i was told this was angst so i thought it only correct to add the tag, keith blushes a lot, keith is afraid of water, keith is shiros cousin, lance can kinda turn into a human, lance is magic, mer lance, mermaid lance, shiro is really smiley, sorta - Freeform, who has a family these days lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-08-23 22:33:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8345302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynnieliu/pseuds/Lynnieliu
Summary: Keith isnt very fond of being near water at all but his brother persuades him to visit the aquarium he works at in hopes he will make some friends and maybe actually enjoy himself for once where he meets a beautiful mermaid that doesnt seem to know that he is being used as an attraction.orIn a Universe where Keith doesn't have cable and only uses his TV for netflix, Hulu, and video games, he is unaware of the mermaid that lives at the local aquarium that his brother works at, who he avoids like the plague because he's always asking keith to visit. Keith finally gives into his brother's pleas and meets the orphaned mermaid Lance. In this said universe mermaids are common knowledge and are even taught about in schools albeit rare so seeing them is still shocking and rare.





	1. That One Where Keith is Afraid of Water

**Author's Note:**

> honestly how did i even write a first chapter this long?? (its not that long, but its long compared to my 3 page chapters)  
> i hope you all like this  
> for some reason i really love this concept

Keith stood outside a very, very large Aquarium with a huge sign reading ‘VOLTRON AQUARIUM & ENTERTAINMENT’ and the building itself seemed to have have color coded areas but the main building was all black. He sighed “what a tacky name.. It sounds like something a 80’s anime would be called” he said before visibly cringing at the thought of going in the said aquarium. Keith and water didn't exactly get along, so he avoided it to the best of his abilities. He sighed when he saw his ‘brother’, Takashi, waved to him from inside and motioned for him to come in. He didn't want to go in but Takashi had been basically begging him to go for like the past year and he finally caved and he’d hate to let his older brother down. Keith made his way to the main entrance to the aquarium and pushed the shockingly heavy doors open and went to Takashi. 

“Keith, I'm glad you could make it” Takashi said with a happy smile,  
“you're just in time for me to show you around before the shows start” he said motioning for Keith to follow him once again and lead him to a set of doors that were shut and had a ‘closed’ sign on it. Takashi entered the room and walked in expecting Keith to follow him. Keith followed after him taking in the blue room with some pink accents in places,  
“this is our main performance room” Takashi said pointing out the large pool on one end of the room and the stadiums across it.  
“We have another one outside but that's only for the summer and some animals that can be outside during the colder seasons.” Keith nodded mutely at Takashi’s explanation and watched as a girl seemed to be running around the pool area setting stuff up for something. She was a pretty girl to say the least, she had very white hair that was up in a bun that was a very nice contrast to her tan skin. Keith figured she was the owner that Takashi talked about often, Allura. She apparently inherited the aquarium from her father despite her young age.  
“Allura come here and meet my brother!” Takashi yelled across the pool. Allura’s attention shifted from what she was previously doing and she smiled widely and and waved at Takashi before putting down the bucket she was holding and and ran to the back of the pool and went through a door before coming out another and ran to where Keith and Takashi were, her wet feet padding against the ground.

“Shiro! Your little brother is so cute! Hello Keith I'm Allura, the owner of this fine establishment. Its nice to finally meet you” She said extending her hand to shake Keith’s. Keith made a slightly uncomfortable face but took her tan hand into his pale one nonetheless.

“Yeah, nice to meet you too..” he said firmly shaking her hand before letting go and looking off to the side.

“Sorry about him, he's a bit shy. I'm just showing him around a little before the performance” Takashi said and got a glare from Keith.  
“I'm actually going to go introduce him to Hunk, Pidge, Matt, Coran, then Lance. So we better get going if we want to be back for the show. See you again later Allura” Takashi said before ushering Keith out of the room and then lead him to one side of the entrance that took them to the ‘Yellow’ building, which true to its name was all different shades of yellow and oranges.  
“This building is where Hunk works, he takes care of everything here. It's mostly different types of fish over here” Takashi said leading Keith to a staff door and showed him to the back so that they could meet Hunk. Upon hearing the door slam shut Hunk jumped, frightened and slowly turned his attention to the door and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Takashi there.

“Shiro, you know better then to scare me like that..” he said putting down the containers that were in his arms on the shelf next to him.  
“And this must be Keith?” he asked as he walked over. Keith nodded at him in confirmation that he was indeed Keith.  
“Well it's nice to meet you, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine with everyone here. Especially since you're so quiet, we have quite a few chatter boxes here in this group” Hunk stated with a grin. Keith chuckled at Hunk’s statement and nodded at him,

“Thanks” Keith said genuinely. Takashi smiled at Keith, glad he seemed to be making friends.

“No problem. I'm sure you’ll love meeting Lance if you haven't already. He could honestly carry on a conversation with you without you responding. It's almost like he can read your mind, but he can't, I've checked.” Hunk said with a short laugh, Takashi let out a short laugh too.

“Yeah, he's been like that ever since I met him, it's actually a little spooky sometimes how good he is at reading people” Takashi said scratching his cheek.  
“Well we better head out, we have to go find Pidge. You know how hard she is to find” he said giving an apologetic smile.

“Oh I totally understand! She's almost impossible to find, and she never stays in her area. I'm pretty sure she should be on the way to her area though and with Mat too. Matt was really upset about her tampering with stuff again” Hunk said back.  
“See ya later” he said with a small wave. Both Takashi and Keith nodded at Hunk before leaving the room and exited the ‘Yellow’ building. Once they entered the main area they saw two identical people leave the ‘Red’ area, the only real differences between them were height and clothing. Both of them had brown ginger hair that was just barely longer than chin length, large round glasses that covered slightly different shaded brown eyes, and very pale complexions. Once Takashi noticed them he lit up and waved them over,

“Pidge, Matt come here!” he yelled across the main area getting the siblings attention. They both quirked their brows and shrugged before making their way over.

“Hey Shiro what's up?” the smaller one asked.

“You have Keith with you today” The taller one stated with a smile.  
“You probably don't recognize me but I'm Matt, I've actually been friends with Shiro for a long time. Although when I came over you usually were in your room” Matt said with a smile.

“Oh thats right, so this is your little brother Keith. Its nice to finally make your acquaintance after how much I've heard about you” presumably Pidge said. Keith nodded at Pidge and Matt,

“Um nice to meet you too… Takashi talks about you both a lot too” He said looking at Takashi.

“Pidge takes care of the ‘Green’ building and Matt takes care of our electronics and stuff, which Pidge helps him with because Matt also helps take care of the ‘Blue’ building with me.” Takashi said smiling at the siblings and got a nod of confirmation from them as if to say his information was correct. Keith then also nodded taking in the information.  
“Thanks for your time, you can go back to what you were doing.” He said before giving them a small wave and ushering Keith to the place where you get admission at the front of the aquarium. Takashi greeted the man at manning the counter with a smile,  
“Hello Coran, this is my little brother Keith. I'm showing him around.” he said, which got a nod from the very ginger mustached man. Coran twirled his mustache between his fingers and looked Keith up and down before extending his hand to him for a handshake.

“Nice ta meet ya ma boy, I'm Coran” he said smiling. Keith awkwardly returned the smile and shook his hand.

“Keith, it's nice to meet you too” he said smalley. Takashi smiled warmly,

“We’ve already been around and meet everyone but Lance, I'm thinking about taking him on a short walk through of the ‘Red’ building before taking him to the ‘Blue’ building to meet Lance” he said and Coran nodded in agreement with his idea.

“Oh yes, definitely visit the ‘Red’ building. Me and Allura work very hard on that area” He said back which Takashi nodded back too,

“Alright, we’ll definitely go look at the ‘Red’ building then.” Takashi was such a people pleaser. Despite how nice everyone was Keith really wanted for this to go faster because he wanted to go home. Takashi bid a goodbye to Coran before showing Keith to the ‘Red’ building. There were a lot of different things here in the tanks from sharks to jellyfish. Basically anything that didn't live on land but wasn't fish. Keith figured anything that had the ability to be on land and live was over in the ‘Green’ or ‘Blue’ building at this point.  
“Since we don't have a designated person to take care of the ‘Red’ building Allura and Coran do just like how both me and Matt take care of the ‘Blue’ building despite our priorities being in other places.” Takashi said after they walked through the whole area and exited.  
“We’re sort of short staffed, not that we don't have extra help that helps with cleaning and feeding sometimes though” Takashi said wish a short laugh. Upon entering the ‘Blue’ building Keith’s senses were taken over by the sound of someone humming, it was undeniably beautiful despite it just being humming. Takashi smiled widely at Keith’s dazed expression,  
“Come on Keith, were almost to the end of the tour” he said glancing at the tanks as if looking for something. Keith blindly followed looking at each of the tanks. This seemed to be a misalliance area, as if this was where the animals that didn't fit in all the other tanks went. When Takashi stopped walking Keith ran straight into him,

“Takashi why did you do that?” Keith asked and then noticed the humming was much louder now. Takashi pointed to the tank he was standing in front of and Keith looked up at it, and silently gasped at the sight. A very pretty boy? Swimming with fish?? And he was a mermaid??  
“Takashi what's the meaning of this?” he asked confused

“This is Lance” he said before tapping the glass to get the beautiful boys attention. He light tan skin under the water was stunning and when he took notice to the noise of the glass being tapped on he opened his eyes looking at the two his deep blue eyes lit up with excitement and his shimmering blue tail flicked happily before he swam to the glass quickly, his dark brown hair flowing. He waved to the two, mainly Takashi as he didn't know Keith, and pointed up to signal Takashi to come to the top of the tank. Takashi nodded in agreement with a smile and the beautiful blue eyed boy disappeared into the top of the tank. Keith let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before looking a Takashi,

“Explain” he demanded firmly. Takashi scratched the back of his neck,

“Right, uh, I'll explain on the way to the staff entrance” he said as he began to walk again. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Keith was following before he began speaking.  
“I met Lance on that trip I went on to Cuba a few years ago. I found him and his family being attacked by a large group of sharks while on a boat ride. Considering how not infested the waters in Cuba are it was shocking to say the least. And after I got him out of the water I found out he was a mermaid I was even more surprised but he was injured and needed serious help. So hes been here since, getting the help he needed” he said before opening the staff door. Keith bit his lower lip and followed Takashi into the room. Takashi lead him to a set of stairs that went to a platform that went above the tanks. When Keith noticed they were walking right about the water he began to panic a little but followed Takashi silently anyways. They eventually got to where Lance was, sitting on one of the platforms toweling himself off a little but avoided the gills on his neck.

“Takashi! It's so nice to see you, as always. You barely ever visit me anymore except during shows” Lance said pouting a little.  
“And who’s this cutie with you?” he said with a wink, making Keith blush a little, but he then gasped,  
“Is this your brother Keith?” Takashi nodded at Lance,

“Yes, this is my brother Keith. Sorry I forgot to warn you, Lance can be a bit of a flirt” he said apologetically to Keith who just awkwardly nodded. Takashi sat down next to Lance and motioned Keith to sit, which he did. Keith extended his hand to Lance for a handshake biting his lip a little,

“I'm Keith, nice to meet you” he said attempting to smile at Lance, a small blush on his cheeks. Lance recoiled a little at the hand extended to him, not being very fond of being touched by humans, but took his hand into his anyways and shook it,

“Lance, but you can call me the man of your dreams” He said with a grin, making Keith's blush darken.  
“Sorry about my hand still being a bit wet, but there's only so much I can do about that” he said chuckling.  
“Hey, calm down. No need to be so nervous.” he said seemingly having read Keith, having let go of his hand.

“Stop flirting with my brother” Takashi said with a bit of a laugh. Lance furrowed his eyebrows at Takashi,

“Huh, why? He seems to be enjoying it enough.” he said pointing out the embarrassed blush on Keith's face. Takashi snorted a laugh,

“You're embarrassing him. Anyways, we’ve gotta get going Lance or else we won't be able to get good seats for your show with Allura” Takashi said standing up and offering his hand to help Keith up. Keith took Takashi’s hand and stood up with Takashi’s help and them smoothed out his clothes.

“That'd be terrible! You better get front and center seats!” he demanded “I’ll meet you guys there, cause I better get going soon or else the princess will kill me” he said going back to toweling himself off. Takashi lead Keith out of the staff room and ‘Blue’ area so they could go to the performance room. 

“Who the princess?” Keith asked Takashi, looking up at him.

“That's just what Lance calls Allura, since she's the one who took care of him and his injuries” Takashi said taking Keith to the first room they visited and seated him in the very front center seat in front of the pool and sat next to him.  
“I'm sure you’ll love the show” Takashi said and Keith shrugged. 

“Maybe. I'm not a fan of water” he said back.

“Well if you don't like it why don't we go watch Lances solo show in his tank later, he has one every day.” Keith shrugged again,

“I don't have a choice do it?” and Takashi chuckled at the question,

“No, no you don't”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty-o  
> Find me on Instagram  
> @emo_mullet_princess  
> Check out my two other klance fics (I promise no angst. 0 (so far anyway)) "Confectioners and bakers aren't the same" and "cat boys and their hopeless owners"  
> Comments are always appreciated c:


	2. That One Where Keith Likes Dolphin Shows but Only if Cute Charismatic Boys are in them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith forgets his fear of water sorta, for a lil, and lance is smooth  
> And feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for making some things unclear last chapter.  
> Lances family is dead  
> Keith doesn't watch the news especially not about aquariums cause hes scared of water and doesn't care

Keith was staring blankly at the pool watching Allura give instructions to Pidge, who was nodding at her. They seemed to get along quite well, not that that seemed weird it was just an observation he made, considering how they were smiling at each other. His attention shifted when he heard the entrance door slam open and Lance ran in huffing for breath, obviously having run all the way from the tank he was in too here.

Mermaids were known to be magical and Lance lived up to that, he had changed his tail fin into a set of legs. Keith had no idea how he did so but Lance was tall, probably a few inches taller than himself. Possibly almost Shiro’s height. Lance glanced around the bleachers and grinned when he noticed Keith and Shiro then ran over to them as fast has he could without falling from his wobbly legs.

“Takashi! Keith!” Lance yelled, waving, while running over to them before tripping and falling on his face. Shiro jumped to his feet, concerned for Lance’s well being, and immediately ran over to him and helped him up.

“Are you okay Lance?” Shiro asked looking him over to make sure he wasn't injured in any way. Lance nodded in response,

“Of course! You know it takes more then a stumble like that to keep me down” he said grinning widely.  
“I just got distracted by how hot Keith is and couldn't help but fall for him” Lance said shooting Keith a wink. Keith face was quickly taken over by a dark blush and he started sputtering incoherent insults and ‘shut ups’.  
Lance snorted a laugh at Keith's reaction while Shiro sat back down and patted Keith on the back.  
“I'm glad you guys got the best seats, this is my favorite performance to do” he said smiling widely,  
“I'll see you guys afterwards” he said giving a small wave before running off.

Keith huffed in irritation,  
“Who does he think he is… shamelessly flirting with me, he doesn't even know me” he grumbled to himself.  
“What did I do to deserve this?” he continued, unconsciously drawing Shiro’s attention.  
“Not that i'm complaining..”

“Complaining is exactly what it sounds like you're doing” Shiro deadpanned, Keith made a noise of surprise due to the fact he was unaware that Shiro was listening to him talk to himself.

“Shut up” Keith shot back, mildly annoyed at the fact Shiro was listening to him. Shiro chuckled and nudged him softly,

“Sorry, the shows about to start you know” he said pointing out the crowds of people pouring into the bleachers and then pointed to Lance standing on a high dive, stretching. Keith looked to where Shiro was pointing and figured the show was starting since Lance had dove off the board to the water, having had changed his legs back into a tail on his way down.

Keith watched the show very intently, he expected to get bored a few minutes in due to how incredibly long it was, like a whole hour, but he was captivated the whole time. Keith had been to dolphin shows before and he wasn’t ever very fond of them but this was like a whole different experience, especially with watching Lance do tricks with the dolphins. It was honestly almost comical to watch, but Keith felt bad for them; both the dolphins and Lance, he felt bad for how they were being treated. Lance seemed like he was having a good time but Keith could tell he was being kept here whether he wanted to be here or not just like those dolphins were.

Once the show was over Lance was lifted out of the water and carried to the staff room by Allura where he toweled himself off so he could get his legs back and return to his tank. Keith and Shiro both stood up and stretched out their muscles, having become uncomfortable from sitting for so long. Shiro told Keith they were going into the staff room to see Lance, Allura, and Pidge then led him to said staff room. They immediately attracted the attention of Pidge, who was rather upset about the whole situation,

“Shiro what the actual hell? You and I both know I'm not a trainer why did you make me do this??” She demanded. Shiro laughed uncomfortably at how she was grilling him,

“Pidge, you know I was with Keith… I needed to make sure he was comfortable, he isn't very good in new environments” Shiro explained to Pidge, who just rolled her eyes. Keith on the other hand looked at him very offended,

“I'm literally standing right here?” he stated, glaring at Shiro who gave him an apologetic look.

“So what are Allura and Lance doing?” Shiro asked Pidge changing the subject. Pidge pushed up her glasses before responding to the question,

“Allura is checking Lance’s side, she noticed some strain during the performance and wants to make sure his fin and leg are still okay” She explained genuinely.  
“ I asked if she’d let me help but she said no.” Shiro nodded, satisfied with the answer.

“I suppose that's why she carried him out of the pool. He’s probably fine though. There isn't much we can do for his strain either way. Plus he isn't very fond of anyone but Allura giving him check ups. He even hisses at me when I try to do them” Shiro said back in an attempt to make Pidge feel better about not getting to help.  
Lance and Allura then emerged from a small side room, and that was when Keith noticed the previously covered scar on Lances leg that he assumed went up to his hip. It looked like a large bite mark but it wasn't very deep, Keith grimaced a little and looked off to the side. Shiro smiled widely when he saw Lance and Allura enter the room,  
“You guys did really well without me today” he said praising the two. Lance let out a short laugh,

“It would have been better if you were there, Pidge is pretty crap at signals” Lance said as if purposely provoking Pidge. Pidge scowled at Lance,

“ well I'm sorry that I'm not a frickin trainer and that literally isn't my job” she shot back with a huff.  
“I need to get back to the Green building, if you need me come find me. Also, Lance, you suck” she said before leaving.

“I love you too!” He yelled after her and smiled contently.  
“Well anyways, Ive gotta get back to my tank so I better head out” Lance said stretching his leg a little.

“Hey lance, I wanted to uh.. Ask you something? Is it alright if I walk back with you?” Keith asked curiously. Lance grinned and nodded,

“Anything for you, I can understand the feel of needing to talk to me more. I am irresistible” Lance said with a firm nod.

“Please stop flirting with my brother… At least in front of me anyways” Shiro said almost pleadingly. Lance just waved him off and nudged keith to follow him and left Shiro and Allura alone in the room.  
“He's such a handful..” Shiro said shaking his head.

“So keith, what are these things you wanted to ask me about?” Lance asked, walking with his hands behind his head. Keith glanced around almost nervously, he wasn't really sure how to ask this without sounding extremely insensitive.

“Well uh..” He began, fidgeting a little while following Lance.  
“I was wondering why you stay here? I mean you have the ability to walk, you could leave here. What I'm saying is I don't understand why you choose to stay in captivity” Keith finished, looking at his feet. Lance hummed in thought,

“It's not bad here.” He said almost completely devoid of emotion.  
“They feed me, take care of me, supply me things for my comfort, keep me safe…” He tailed off.  
“All in all I like it here, Takashi is my hero you know? And the Princess has been nothing but wonderful to me. Hunk is my best bud, and despite how it seems me and Pidge are close friends too. I'm friends with everyone here, and their very dear to me.” Lance said with a decisive nod.  
“That's why I stay I guess, it's not like I have anywhere else to go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like feelings  
> Feelings are fun  
> *clears throat* Lance likes living at the Aquarium. He likes performing. He likes having Allura always being there to make sure hes okay. He likes Shiro and all his other friends being there. Most of all he likes being safe.


	3. That One Where Keith Finds Out Something Concerning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith finds out some quite concerning stuff and is super gay, js.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bleh this is really short? but like.... i finished the chapters plot so... yep

“It's not like I have anywhere else to go.” Lance’s words kept repeating in Keith's head before he replied,

 

“I sorta of understand what you mean, after my parents died I was forced to live with Shiro and his family because they were our only immediate family” Keith said with downcast expression,  
“But that doesn't mean you should give up” Keith said smiling a little at Lance. Lance was dumbstruck, he had no idea what to say to Keith. He had just assumed him and Shiro had been birth siblings not adopted siblings. Lance bit his lip but then gave a small smile back to Keith,

 

“I suppose you're right, thanks Keith” Lance said in return before beaming at Keith,  
“Though I'm not really sure what kind of goals I could even shoot for, maybe like uh..” Lance began to hum in thought before noticing Keith’s interested expression that was directed somewhere behind him.  
“Hey Keith, whatcha lookin' at?” he asked turning around to see what Keith was looking at.

 

“Who are those people talking to Allura over there?” Keith asked, pointing out the small group of people talking to Allura across the lobby. Lance frowned his eyebrows while looking at the small group and cringed a little, which didn't go unnoticed by Keith, but he quickly changed his expression back to a carefree one and a grin.

 

“Don't worry about them, they're just the Galra inc. representatives.” He said waving his hand in dismissal,   
“They’ve been stopping in almost everyday for the past month trying to get Allura to sell Voltron to them. They’ve even been trying to bargain with her” Lance said with a snort.  
“They seem to think Voltron should belong to them because the head of their business was partners with Alluras dad, the original owner, but it was in his will to go to her so it really doesn't belong to them. Since they have only taken interest in having the aquarium recently I'm pretty sure they're just trying to get me to be an exhibit for them, despite Allura saying otherwise.” Lance finished with an almost worried expression.

 

Keith frowned at Lance’s explanation, anyone who hadn’t heard of Galra inc. was truly living under a rock or really oblivious. The Galra inc. was a huge company that recently started to buy out other companies that had a lot of attraction to them, often with promise that they’d split the profit with the owners who complied with them but basically taking companies by force if they didn't. This fact made Keith very concerned for the aquarium and its future, especially Lance’s. 

 

Lance took notice to Keith worried face and chuckled,”really Keith don't worry about it, everything will work out. Plus I can tell you worried about what would happen to me if they did somehow buy Voltron out from under Allura.” He said before wrapping an arm around Keith shoulders.  
“I'm not an attraction here, more of an unpaid worker, an intern if you will. If they did somehow manage to buy Voltron I'd be leaving with everyone else to. So don't you worry your pretty little head” Lance said ‘booping’ Keith’s nose. 

 

Keith scrunched up his nose in confusion and look up to the tan boy leaning on his shoulder. He bit his lip and nodded at Lance, “yeah okay, but uh, if you ever need anything make sure to tell someone.” Lance snorted a laugh at Keith’s concern but genuinely smiled at him. Keith watched as Lances expression softened into a truly happy one with a sort of awe of how truly beautiful the boy next to him was.

 

“Yeah I’ll keep that in mind Keithy, but now let's get back to my tank, kay?” he asked rhetorically, his words pulling Keith out of his trance of sorts. Keith nodded slightly, “I really hate walking, you know? It's such a pain and too much work.” Lance ranted, sliding his arm off Keith’s shoulders and grabbed onto his hand instead and lead Keith to his tank.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are always apreciated


End file.
